Jesus' Heart

Luke 14:2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy.

At first, I focused on the fact that Jesus shows compassion on this man in the next verses and heals him. But then, I realized, He was at a Pharisee's home and what was this man doing there? The Pharisee was obviously trying to catch Jesus in performing a "thou shalt not" because I don't recall Pharisees hanging out with sick people.  The best part of this whole interaction is that Jesus reveals His heart and the hearts of the Pharisees. Jesus' heart is to love people and care for them. That, I would have thought, was the Pharisees purpose as well, to love people and care for them. And yet, they were so focused on the "Thou Shalt" and "Thou Shalt Not" that their hearts were completely lost. Oh, but we are not any better than the Pharisees. We find ourselves looking at our list of dos and don'ts and try to keep as many as we can. I believe Jesus looks at us in these moments and the verse then reads, "There in front of him was Abbie suffering from the sin condition." Jesus looks on me with compassion and offers his healing sacrifice and His transformational grace. He offers me His death as my own and gifts me the Holy Spirit to change my heart. The list of dos and don'ts becomes a thing of the past, and I can live with freedom in Christ. My heart can only love people and care for them, as I have been loved and cared for; no more focusing on their dos and don'ts.